Death, Burial and Rebirth in the Religions of Antiquity

273 Pages·1999·1.85 MB·English

by  Jon Davies

DEATH, BURIAL AND
REBIRTH IN THE RELIGIONS
OF ANTIQUITY

Christianity came into existence in a world in which religion was of
central importance. In any religious culture, the treatment of death is
of central importance.
In Death, Burial and Rebirth in the Religions of Antiquity, Jon Davies charts
the significance of death in the religions and cults of the pre-Christian
and early Christian world. He analyses varied funerary rituals and
examines different notions of the afterlife. Among the areas covered
are:

• Isis and Osiris, Baal and Ahura Mazda: the thanatologies of
Ancient Near East
• Burying the Jewish dead
• Roman religion and Roman funerals
• Christian burial
• The nature of martyrdom

Jon Davies also draws on the sociological theory of Max Weber to
present a comprehensive introduction to and overview of death, burial
and rebirth in the first Christian centuries which offers insights into
the relationship between social change and attitudes to death and
dying.
Jon Davies was until recently Head of Department of Religious
Studies at the University of Newcastle, where he now teaches part-
time.
RELIGION IN THE FIRST
CHRISTIAN CENTURIES
Edited by Deborah Sawyer and John Sawyer,
Lancaster University
Too often the religious traditions of antiquity are studies in isolation,
without any real consideration of how they interacted. What made
someone with a free choice become an adherent of one faith rather
than another? Why might a former pagan choose to become a
‘godfearer’ and attend synagogue services? Why might a Jew become
a Christian? How did the mysteries of Mithras differ from the worship
of the Unconquered Sun, or the status of the Virgin Mary from that
of Isis, and how many gods could an ancient worshipper have? These
questions are hard to answer without a synoptic view of what the
different religions offered.
The aim of the books in this series is to survey particular themes
in the history of religion across the different religions of antiquity
and to set up comparisons and contrasts, resonances and
discontinuities, and thus reach a profounder understanding of the
religious experience in the ancient world. Topics to be covered will
include: women, conversion, language, death, magic, sacrifice and
purity.
Also available in this series:
WOMEN AND RELIGION IN THE FIRST CHRISTIAN
CENTURIES
Deborah F.Sawyer
THE CRUCIBLE OF CHRISTIAN MORALITY
J.Ian H.McDonald
SACRED LANGUAGES AND SACRED TEXTS
John Sawyer
DEATH, BURIAL
AND REBIRTH IN
THE RELIGIONS OF
ANTIQUITY

Jon Davies

London and New York
First published 1999
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.
© 1999 Jon Davies
The right of Jon Davies to be identified as the Author of this Work
has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Davies, Jon, 1939–
Death, burial, and rebirth in the religions of antiquity/Jon Davies.
p. cm. —(Religion in the first Christian centuries)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Death—Religious aspects—History of doctrines. 2. Funeral rites
and ceremonies, Ancient. 3. Future life—History of doctrines. 4.
Middle East—Religion. 5. Rome—Religion. I. Title. II. Series.
BL504.D295 1999
291.2’3’093–dc21 98–49845
CIP
ISBN 0-415-12990-7 (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-12991-5 (pbk)
ISBN 0-203-03050-8 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-20358-5 (Glassbook Format)
TO JEAN, MY WIFE, FOR THE
SOCIETY, HELP AND COMFORT
WHICH SHE HAS AFFORDED ME,
AND TO MY CHILDREN,
DANIEL, JACOB AND ESTHER,
MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW ANNABEL,
AND MY GRANDDAUGHTER JESSIE,
FOR THE CHEERFULNESS THEY
BRING TO MY LIFE

CONTENTS

List of plates ix
Preface and acknowledgements xi
Introduction 1
PART I
Death in the Ancient Near East 23
1 Osiris and Isis: The life-theology of Ancient Egypt 27
2 Zoroaster, Ahura Mazda and Ahriman 40
3 Canaanites and Mesopotamians 47
4 Mere texts or living realities? The possible
influence of the older thanatologies on Judaism
and Christianity 60
PART II
From caves and rock-cut tombs to Judaism 69
5 The general archaeology of the Ancient Near East 71
6 Judaism: Towards the common era 84
7 Burying the Jewish dead 95
8 Good luck with your resurrection! Opening the
heavens and raising the dead 110
vii
CONTENTS
PART III
Romans and Greeks: A theodicy of good
fortune? 125
9 Roman and Greek philosophies of death 127
10 Roman religion and Roman funerals 139
11 Ovid’s ‘ever-varying forms’: Greek mythologies,
sarcophagi and the boundaries of mortality 155
12 Ovid’s ‘bonds of love and duty’: Funerals, epitaphs,
orations and death in the arena 167
PART IV
Christians, martyrs, soldiers, saints 187
13 Christian burial 191
14 The nature of martyrdom 201
Epilogue 217
Sacrificial living and sacrificial dying: Christians
in the world 217
Appendix 221
Bibliography 225
Index 240

viii
LIST OF PLATES

Following page 124
1 ‘Hail and farewell, Dionysius! Hail and farewell, Paramon!’:
c. fourth century BCE grave slab, depicting a funeral
meal, placed in the entrance to the thirteenth century
BCE tomb at Orchomenos, Boeotia. Inside the main
tomb is a second or third century BCE Macedonian altar.
2 Termessos, Lycian-Galatia. Fifth to first century BCE
necropolis, sarcophagi with roof-shaped lids used for
primary burial.
3 Telmessos, Lycia (now Fethiye, Turkey). Fourth century
BCE extramural necropolis. The tombs, all for men, are cut
into the rock-face. Upper right is the tomb of Amytas,
whose name is incised inside a benched chamber behind
the façade.
4 Beth Shearim, near Tel Aviv, Israel. Jewish
catacombnecropolis, second to fourth centuries CE.
5 Jericho, Second Temple. Monumental tomb, together
with ritual bath supplied with water by aqueduct. The
courtyard was probably used for mourning and memorial
services.
6 Jericho, Second Temple. Primary coffin burials in loculi,
with one coffin in the ‘pit’ of the sealed tomb.
7 Jericho, Second Temple. Secondary burial with no
trace of coffins or ossuaries, with the skulls placed on
top of the piles of bones.
8 Alexandria, Tegran tomb, second century CE.
Representation of a mummified corpse, under the
winged sun-disc and attended by Isis and Nephthys.
ix